Problem: William bought a new pair of shorts at the store when they were having a $30\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the pair of shorts was $$12$, how much did William pay with the discount?
Explanation: First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$12$ $\times$ $30\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $30\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{30}{100}$ which is also equal to $30 \div 100$ $30 \div 100 = 0.30$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.30$ $\times$ $$12$ $ = $ $$3.60$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price William paid. $$12$ $-$ $$3.60$ $ = $ $$8.40$ William paid $$8.40$ for the pair of shorts.